


Collection of Paine/Rikku Ficlets

by ShearaGoldwing



Category: Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShearaGoldwing/pseuds/ShearaGoldwing
Summary: A collection of ficlets written for a series of prompts on Tumblr centered around Paine/Rikku. Mostly AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These were originally written for a friend-who-is-no-longer-a-friend as part of several exchanges we were doing on Tumblr in 2016. As such the prompt numbers and such will remain the same. Each chapter will represent either a separate list or month and I will try to link to each of the original prompt lists at the beginning of each chapter.
> 
> Original Prompt List: http://ar-gyle.tumblr.com/post/122570943424/list-of-aus-i-need

  * **You always watch our soccer/football game but you’re always alone and I wanted to talk to our number one fan**



She was there again. Same spot as always, top of the bleachers on the far right. Rikku glanced at the woman out of the corner of her eye as she drank her water. Every week it was the same. She and her friends would gather, play a game of soccer while their nonathletic counterparts and loved ones watched on. And the strange girl would show up at some point during the game and just watched. Never talked, never stuck around after, always staring. Rikku stole another glance at the girl before setting her bottle down and marching up the bleachers with determination.

The woman with gunmetal grey hair spotted her and Rikku smirked as a flash of panic crossed her face. She stopped just in front of the taller woman and stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Rikku. I see you up here every week during out games, what’s your name?”

The woman smiled shyly and took Rikku’s hand. “I’m Paine.”

  * **You suck at gym class and coach assigned me to be your partner, seriously dude, you can’t even kick a ball**



“I still don’t see why coach thought I needed help.” Paine grumbled as she toed the grass. 

“Because you have the lowest grade in the class right now. And I have the highest. Now kick the ball.” Paine glared at the perky blonde she’d been paired with and gave the rubber ball a desolate tap with her shoe. 

Rikku watched the ball roll sadly away. “Well we’re never going to get anywhere with that attitude.”

  * **You’re the cute nerd that keeps getting pushed around but you just punched your bully and I gotta save you**



Rikku heard the familiar sounds of the commotion from around the corner. Those boys were picking on that girl again. She’d seen it happen more than once and the pretty girl with the beautiful crimson eyes never defended herself. Rikku rounded the corner just in time to see the girl reel back and drive her fist into their bully’s smirking face. Rikku didn’t remember dropping her books and jumping to the girls aide. She did however remember being dragged to the nurses station afterwards by a furiously blushing grey haired girl who insisted on being called Paine.

  * **I’m a monster/guardian that the local village give sacrifices to and you’re the new sacrifice but don’t worry I won’t eat you, I’m kinda lonely**



They’d brought another one. The local villagers seemed obsessed with leaving twenty-somethings out front of the cavern every year when the snow began to fall. Why? Paine suspected they still clung to the old superstition that she brought the spring. Which was utterly ridiculous. The rotation of the planet  brought the spring, not her. But did that stop them? Of course not. Paine sighed and picked up one of the backpacks full of clothes, some money, and a train ticket. She’d started prepping them about a century ago and so far she’d had to give out at least one every year. 

The one they’d left this time didn’t seem scared when she exited her cavern. The blue eyed woman simply smiled widely. “Wow, I love the view from up here. No wonder you picked this spot.” 

Paine stared at the grinning blonde for a long few minutes, cheeks flaming at how beautiful she was. Finally she cleared her throat. “There’s a stairway that leads up to a higher plateau if you want to see,” she mumbled, still blushing.

  * **You’re my mate but you won’t accept it, c’mon, it took me forever to find you can I at least get a hug or something**



Rikku bounced after the scowling woman that had only a few minutes ago escaped her grasp. “Look, I know it sounds weird but it’s true.”

“Bullshit.” The red-eyed woman growled as her pace sped.

“Look, trust me, I have a sense for these things. You’re my mate. My one true love. The sort of person all those sappy romance songs are written about.”

“Bullshit!” The other snapped with more force, breaking into a jog.

Rikku matched her pace easily. “You know you won’t be able to outrun me. The least you could do is at least go out to dinner with me and see whether or not you at least like me back before you start running away.” The other woman broke into a run. Rikku sighed deeply.

  * **I just captured the ship you’re on and about to kill everyone on it, but you’re cute, I’ll keep you**



Rikku huffed in annoyance as the pirates dragged her and the rest of the crew onto the main deck of the ship and herded them into a group near the (front). Of all days to be waylaid by pirates. They were only one day out of port! They weren’t even carrying any cargo! 

The blonde glared at the group of pirates that stood guard while the rest searched the rest of the ship. She was just about to to try her luck wrestling the gun out of the nearest ones hands when the sound of loud, confident boots striking wood sounded above the general din the prisoners and guards were making. The pirates snapped to attention, eyes forwards and alert.

Rikku stood on tip toe but the only thing she could see was a crest of dark grey hair making it’s way towards the prisoners. She pouted and followed the visible crest until a lean woman with the most beautiful red eyes rounded the last guard. Rikku could feel her jaw dropping as the woman scowled down at the prisoners and began to pace in front of them. 

She seemed to be looking for something as she made pass after pass, crimson eyes sweeping over the faces of the captives. She only glanced at Rikku once. 

After a few circuits the woman looked at the guard standing next to her, pointed at Rikku, nodded, and walked away. The large man grabbed Rikku by the arm and dragged her away from the rest of the captives, following the departing woman.  A few steps later there was a raucous sound of gunfire and screams.

  * **You’re a princess that wants to escape castle life and I happen to be just traveling the world, totally not running away from bad people or nothin’**



Paine huffed in annoyance as her guard carefully checked the clearing ahead before allowing her to pass. “You realize we come to this clearing every week and there has as of yet to be a threat waiting for me here. Don’t you think it’s a waste of time for you to be tagging along?” Her guard shook his head, stony face. The princess sighed deeply before dismounting and walking over to the swing that had been attached to a high tree branch. she sat and glared at the picturesque pond and thought dark thoughts about her fathers announcement of her betrothal that morning. 

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that it took a moment for her to realize there was another face in the water. She blinked in surprise at the shock of blonde hair and the wide smile. 

“Hi!” A voice chirruped behind her. Paine twisted around to see another woman in a simple jerkin, breeches, and mud splattered leather boots.

The princess glanced over at her guard who didn’t seem to have noticed the stranger.  “Hi,” she stated carefully. 

The blonde was looking curiously at the guard before she glanced back at Paine. “Wanna go on an adventure?” Paine was off the swing and grabbing the other woman's’ hand before she realized what she was doing. “I’ll take that as a yes!” The blonde laughed happily as the slipping into the woods. “My name’s Rikku by the way.”

“Piane.” There was an old horse grazing by a tiny stream and Rikku pulled her to a stop so she could mount up/. Paine gave a sharp whistle and her own mare came galloping through the woods at her summons. 

As they rode off into the woods they heard the startled cry of the palace guard behind them and the baying of dogs in the far distance. Paine glanced at the beautiful woman beside her and spied a very familiar scepter hanging from the thief’s belt. An Adventure indeed!

  * **You’re the neighbor that keeps their curtains open, even when changing, and I can’t talk to you without blushing**



Rikku hadn’t meant to spy on her neighbor. She really hadn’t. But the grey haired woman didn’t seem to own any curtains and Rikku had just happened to glance up while playing her video game. It wasn’t her fault it happened to be at the same time her neighbor was stripping out of her shirt to reveal perfectly sculpted abs and a lacy black bra. She’d wrenched the curtains to her own window shut as soon as her brain had kicked back into gear. It wasn’t her fault the other woman had stripped completely naked by that point.

Rikku sat on her couch as the title theme for her game played on a loop trying desperately to ignore the sudden blood rush telling her to abandon the game for more… sweaty entertainment. She wasn’t sure how long she remained frozen on her couch but the loud insistent knocking made her leap a good foot in the air.

She scrambled to the door, hoping whomever it was wouldn’t care about the grease stained sweat shirt and cutoffs. She immediately regretted her clothes when she opened her door to find the woman she’d just spent the last unknown amount of time trying very hard not to fantasize about standing in front of her in leather pants and a corset. “Uh…”

“Can I get some sugar from you?” Rikku’s brain dive bombed into a deep gutter and she felt her cheeks flaming. “I need about a cup for this cake I’m making and I ran out.”

  * **You just snuck into my apartment and wait is that blood**



Paine jerked from her dreams without warning. She lay in her bed and frowned. She didn’t think she’d been having a nightmare so what ha- she heard a noise and was out of bed in an instant. She kept and old metal baseball bat by her bed and hefted it above her shoulder and slipped out into the main room of her tiny apartment.

The large window that lead to the fire escape was open. She eyed it unhappily before turning to glare at the rest of the apartment only to come face to face with a blood splattered blonde who was gaping at her in awe. “WOW! You’re gorgeous!” Paine spared a glance down at her t-shirt and underwear before lifting her bat an inch or so higher.

“You’re covered in blood.”

The blonde glanced down at herself and Paine took her chance. The blonde only got the words, “oh, it’s not mine,” out before the bat connected with her head.

  * **we’ve been roomates for a few months now and I never see you at night except this time when I caught you dragging a body into the kitchen**



Rikku sighed as she sprawled in her chair as she clicked through her e-mails at her desk. Nothing was happening tonight. No one was interested in doing anything. She was alone. Trapped in the apartment with her ghost of a roommate. Not that the red-eyed woman was a bad roommate or anything. She always paid rent on time and she did the dishes and didn’t leave too many things laying on the floor. It was just weird how she never seemed to be around when the sun went down. Rikku’s friends used to theorize that she was some sort of reverse vampire. She certainly looked like one. All black leather and spiked collars. But god was she hot. Rikku groaned and rolled off her chair to slouch out to the kitchen for some water.

At least that was the plan. Seeing her elusive roommate dragging a body dressed in a flowy blue and white half skirt with a ridiculously long ponytail over the tile floor of the kitchen gave her great pause.

Paine glanced up to see her standing there and glanced back down at the body whose ankles she was holding. She looked back up and with a straight face, in the blandest tone Rikku had ever heard, “She’s just drunk, not dead.”

  * **I needed to kidnap you for a mission but don’t worry I won’t kill you, you’ll be staying with my family for a while**



Paine glared at the blonde haired woman as they drove through a suburban neighborhood. “Look,” the blonde began, “I know you’re not thrilled with this but like I said when you first woke up. My boss needed you out of the way for a few hours. And since it’s the holidays I figured at least you could spend it having dinner and maybe drinking instead of in the trunk of my car which was my original plan.” She fell silent for a few minutes as she turned down another nearly identical street. Paine continued to glare and eventually her kidnapper started babbling again. “Look if you keep acting like that I’m just gonna go back to the trunk plan. It’s not that bad. My family all love cooking and they’re really good at it. I promise you’ll have a good time. You won’t even be sad about being away from work.”

Paine growled through the cloth gag stuffed in her mouth and continued to glare. The blonde didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did she didn’t seem to care. She just continued babbling.

“Although if I just show up with some random stranger trussed up like a turkey I don’t think my aunts would be very please. See, they don’t exactly know what I do.” She turned onto yet another street. “So we’ll have to come up with a cover story. I know! We’ll tell them you’re my girlfriend and that we’ve been dating for a few months and we decided that it was time you met the family. And I’m gonna need you to play along, okay?” Paine snorted and the other woman frowned. “Look you can either play along or I’ll tell your boss you were in on the plan from the beginning.”

A brown haired woman opened the door when Rikku knocked and smiled when she saw the two standing on the front step, arms twined around each other’s hips.

  * **You just threw your prosthetic arm at me for being an asshole but seriously dude I’m sorry, do you need a hand?**



Rikky could only stare in shock at the prosthetic in her hand. Something had hit her in the head while she’d been making an ass of herself to prove a point to Yuna but now someone had thrown their arm at her. She slowly looked up to see the woman she’d been making fun of glowering at her, sleeve hanging empty. She felt Yuna slipping away into the dark recesses of the walmart automotive section while she continued to stand there in shock.

She’d never had an arm thrown at her before. Least of all by women in black leather with red eyes. “Um…” she muttered and held the arm out to the taller woman. It was taken back with a growl and Rikku watched as the woman proceeded to maneuver the straps and other bits and pieces into place to get the arm on properly. When the other woman walked away Rikku hesitated for a few seconds before following meekly behind. She wasn’t sure what she was doing but she followed the woman until she’d finished her shopping and then pushed her cart out to her car and loaded the bags under her red-eyed glare.

Finally the woman drove away and Rikku turned to look back at the store and saw Yuna standing at the entrance laughing.

  * **I’m that dork that makes stupid puns and you’re the nerd that actually finds them funny**



“Hey, hey, Paine, where do cats go when they die?” Rikku bounced up and down as she held onto her friend’s arm.

Paine smired at the blonde’s excitement before replying, “I don’t know, Rikku. Where?”

“PUURRRRGATORY!” Rikku crowed and Paine snorted in amusement only to start chuckling as Rikku spun around chanting ‘purgatory’ at the top of her lungs. Even if the puns were awful Paine couldn’t help but laugh when Rikku was the one telling them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original Prompt List: http://haveahearttinman.tumblr.com/post/136707556750/the-great-drabble-exchange-2016

**4\. your dog is adorable but not as much as you**

Rikku almost tripped when something ran into her knees. She yelped and corrected her balance as best she could as the thing connected again. She regained her footing just as whatever it was reared up and started licking her face, paws resting on her shoulders.

She let out a small shrieking laugh and tried to push the excited dog away from her. It fell back to the ground and barked happily, tail wagging furiously. Rikku giggled and bent down to pet the grey and white furred head. The dogs mouth dropped open and it’s tongue lolled in joy as she scratched it behind it’s ears.

“Ah, there you are.” Rikku looked up at the exasperated voice and blushed. A beautiful woman with steel grey hair and piercing red eyes was walking up the sidewalk, leash in hand.

Rikku straightened and smiled her most charming smile. “Oh, is he yours? He’s adorable.”

The woman smirked and nodded. “She is. She jumped the fence again. Bad girl.” She chided the dog gently as she clipped the leash to the collar buried amongst the thick fur. “Thanks for stopping her.”

Rikku’s face felt like it was burning but her smile grew even wider. “No problem. She kind of stopped me actually. Um, can I buy you a coffee?”

“Coffee?”

“Yeah, I know this great little place just around the corner with outdoor seating. I’m Rikku by the way.”

“Paine.” She shook Rikku’s hand. “Coffee sounds nice.”

**27\. please don’t stop**

Rikku hummed and stretched happily atop Paine as deft fingers slid through her blonde hair, lightly scraping her scalp. She turned her face to nuzzle at one of Paine’s breasts only for a hand to tug at her hair gently. “If you keep moving this braids gonna come out crooked.” Rikku mewled piteously but held still as Paine returned to her work.

**38\. trip to IKEA**

Paine sighed deeply and pulled out her phone to text her girlfriend.

_I’m lost._  She sent it and sighed again before picking a comfortable looking chair and sitting in it. There was a strange painting opposite her with a little white sign hanging off of it with a word she couldn’t even hope of pronouncing printed neatly. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

_Me too. I’m near the scented candles. You?_

Paine sighed again and leaned back in the chair. She hadn’t see any candles in her wanderings.

_I’m near where they had those cow skin rugs_.

The response came quickly.

_On the second floor? Near the food court?_

There was a food court here?

_I have seen no food court._

She had to wait a few minutes for Rikku to text her back.

_Keep walking. The food court is right next to the elevators ahead of you somewhere._

Paine eyed her suroundings and the cheery yellow arrows painted on the floor. Well it’s wasn’t like she could get more lost.

Twenty minutes later she found Rikku eating a croissant and drinking lingonberry juice in the food court and dropped into the chair beside her. “I changed my mind. A new desk is not worth all this nonsense.”

“Well don’t fret. I found one I think you’ll like.”

“Do you know how to get back to it?”

“Not a clue. But I took a picture so we’ll be able to get it on the first floor in the area with all the boxes.”

“Have I told you I love you recently?”

“Yes, but I’d love to hear it again.”

**40\. you live above me and i swear you’re an elephant or something and no actually you’re really hot, hi.**

Paine glared up at her ceiling at the thundering footfalls came again, tracing a path above her towards where her kitchen was then back a few minutes later. It was like this every night now. Ever since her upstairs neighbor had moved in last week. Non-stop thunder from dusk until almost midnight. She hadn’t slept properly in days. She’d become grouchy at work with her 7am start time and lack of sleep.

Thunder again. Moving to hover somewhere near her bathroom. Silence for a moment. Then it came again accompanied by an almighty crash. That was it.

Paine threw her quilt off and grabbed her baseball bat. She didn’t bother taking her keys or locking her door or even putting on shoes. It was eleven thirty at night and she had a neighbor to threaten.

She used the end of the bat to bang on the neighbors door until it flew open to reveal the prettiest girl Paine had ever seen. She was momentarily dazzled by the blonde hair pulled into braids held together with bead and bright blue curious eyes before shaking herself out of her stupor. “I don’t know what your issue is but you’re nonsense needs to stop.” She made sure to keep her voice deadpan in order to help her seem more threatening.

“Nonsense?” Lords she even sounded adorable.

“Yes, hippy, nonsense. Every night I have to listen to you thundering about in here like an elephant.” The blue eyes widened in shock and her pretty pink lips dropped open in surprise. “And now you decide to start dropping heavy shit at near midnight on a weekday when I have to work at seven tomorrow. So think of this as an initial warning. I won’t be as gracious next time.”

Paine thought she’d been appropriately threatening and waited for the blonde to respond. “Oh,” the girl frowned a little and gave Paine a once over only to start smirking slightly, “if I don’t stop then are you going to keep coming here in your underwear?”

Paine felt her face drain of color and chanced a glance down and, yes, she was indeed in nothing but her sleep tank and panties. “Next time I’ll wear pants.” She stated imperiously but knew it was in vain as those adorable blue as began shining with mirth.

**57\. Who the fuck took the last cookie? I had my fucking name on that!**

Paine was just settling down at her desk in her cubicle to get back to work on the damage reports when an almighty howl of rage rang out from the breakroom. She stood and peeked over the top of the cubicle, noticing others doing the same in her periphery. Rikku stormed out of the breakroom, face red.

“Who took it?” Rikku snarled, ready to rip someone’s face off. There was an echoing silence and her lips curled. “Who took my cookie?” More silence.

Paine lowered herself out of view of the enraged blonde and looked down at her desk. A lavender infused sugar cookie with pink frosting sat innocuously where she had set it next to her cup of tea.

**66\. werewolf au**

Something heavy landed on Paine’s bed jerking her awake. She blinked at her bedside table blankly for a moment before rolling onto her back. A gold furred blue eyed wolf was staring down at her.

“Oh, full moon already?” She asked tiredly. Rikku groaned and used her forepaws to shove at Paine’s side until she threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. “Alright alright. Give me a minute.”

Rikku whined and leaped off the bed with a thud and disappeared out the bedroom door. She returned a few minutes later when Paine didn’t follow. “I said I’m coming.” Paine grumbled only for Rikku to sit down in the doorway and howl. Loudly.

Paine groaned and covered her ears, she stood up from the bed and the howling petered off. “Yes, there, are you happy? I’m standing.” Rikku made a happy sound and careened back into the main room of the apartment, Paine following slowly, grabbing her pants on her way out the door.

Every full moon this shit happened. Every full moon and all the idiot ever wanted to do when she transformed was go to the park and run around chasing ducks until dawn. Paine woke up to a cup of coffee sitting on the bench next to her and Rikku asleep on her shoulder.

**101\. Your ship decides to take a shower/bath together.**

Figuring out the logistics of fitting two people into an already cramped tub had ended up becoming something more akin to a Twister match than anything resembling even the smallest hint of sexual. Paine shifted her right leg slightly, prompting Rikku to roll slightly to accommodate, putting more pressure on Paine’s left leg which started going numb almost immediately. After a solid twenty minutes of attempting to get comfortable Paine sighed loudly. “We need a bigger tub.”

“Agreed.”

**112\. A walks in on B having a private moment. How do they react?**

Paine sighed heavily as she finally walked into her home after two weeks of running herself ragged on this last mission. It’d been a one woman job and she’d been the one with the skillset to do it best. She dropped her weapons and bag not two steps past the door and made a beeline for the couch. She hit the cushions face first and sighed deeply into the plush fabric as her body began to relax.

It took less than five minutes for the feeling of dried sweat and ingrained dirt to get to her. She groaned as she rolled off the couch onto her feet and stumbled towards the bedroom with its en suite bath.

Rikku was curled up on her bed.

Paine blinked in confusion at the blonde woman, not fully comprehending what she was seeing. Slowly details began to filter past her exhaustion. Rikku only had a shirt on, Paine’s shirt to be exact. Her eyes were closed, but her cheeks were flushed. Her breathing seemed a little rapid. One of her hands was holding the neck of the shirt up to Rikku’s nose while the other…

Paine stared at the tendons shifting in Rikku’s forearm in fascination as the blondes fingers worked tirelessly between her thighs. She enjoyed the view for a few moments before clearing her throat softly.

Rikku jerked up and stared at her in shock and embarrassment. Paine held up a hand, palm out, to forestall any explanations or platitudes. “I’m going to shower. When I’m done I’m going to come out here and we’re going to finish what you started. Together. Agreed?” Rikku’s smile was blinding.

“Agreed. Welcome home.”

**128\. Why are you wearing a corset?**

Rikku rolled out of bed halfway through the afternoon and was making her way to the kitchen for food when she spotted Paine fussing with something beneath her shirt. She didn’t comment on it, continuing into the kitchen to find the cereal.

Food stuffs in hand she reemerged and settled on the couch. Paine was still fussing with whatever it was.

“Need a hand?” Rikku offered lazily, spooning a mouthful of crunchy o’s into her mouth.

Paine glanced at her and sighed deeply. “Yeah.” She whipped the shirt over her head and Rikku choked on her second mouthful.

Paine was wearing a corset. A light blue satiny corset with lace edging. Rikku had to set her bowl down very carefully before turning to Paine, face set in as neutral a mask as she could managed “Pretty.” That was all she could handle before the giggles finally broke free. The fit  lasted a few minutes before Rikku managed to get it back under control. “Why?” She choked out between snickers.

“Yuna needed help modeling it then left before taking it off. It’s starting to hurt.” Rikku nodded in understanding before gesturing for Paine to sit on the edge of the couch between her knees.

“I’ll get it off for you.”

**134\. We were relaxing outside and there was a loud bang and you fell down.**

Rikku sighed contentedly and stretched in the lawn chair, enjoying the warm spring day. Paine shifted beside her and sat up, grabbing the empty glasses sitting between them. “I’m gonna get us some more lemonade.”

“Mmm’kay. And cookies.” Paine snorted but gave her a peck on the cheek before getting up and heading into the house.

Rikku hummed happily and settled even deeper into her comfortable slouch. At the edge of the lawn Tidus was showing Brother how to properly set up a rocket stand for their fireworks later. She grinned to herself as she watched Tidus wave his arms about, demonstrating something while Brother looked on, mouth open.

Her eyes slipped closed for a while. A loud bang made her jump. The sound of breaking glass made her whip around in time to see her darling Paine toppling to the ground. She ran to her beloved’s side and cradled the stunned woman.

“What-?” Paine was dazed and very confused.

Rikku looked up to call the boys over to help her get Paine over to the chair so she could lay down only to see twin looks of surprise and guilt. And a smoking rocket tube.

**+5**

**1.How the heck do you get dressed in the morning?**

Rikku tugged hard on the shorts. She jumped a few times. Wriggled her hips. Pulled some more. Finally the shorts settled where they were supposed to sit. She buttoned and zipped them with a feeling of immense triumph. The band of stretching fabrice went over her head and around her chest easily enough. After some rearranging of her breasts anyway. The shoulder wrap went on- no, wait. She paused and looked down at the mass of straps and spied the red ones she needed. And then realized with horror that the suspenders weren’t for the shorts. They were for the stockings. Which meant she had to take the shorts off and put them back on.

She stared down at the skin tight leather shorts for a long moment. “Fuck this shit. Paine! How the fuck do you do this every morning!”

“Stop putting my clothes on, you’ll stretch them!”

**2.Quiet moments, that you never cease to ruin. But I love you anyway.  
**

Paine let out a happy sigh as she settled on the couch, Rikku curled into her side. They’d had a quiet walk in the park, a nice dinner, delicious dessert, and now they could relax on the couch for a while with their glasses of wine until they decided to retire for the night or, perhaps, a more enjoyable activity came along. The minutes ticked by peacefully and Paine was just st\arting to doze when Rikku spoke.

“So there’s this business guy over in the next city that has an orb I think we should steal.”

Ah. Well there goes that moment of peace.

**3.Sword-wielding 101**

“Alright,” Paine adjusted Rikku’s arms and shoulders until the large blade was straight out in front of them, “now with a sword this big you really need to make sure you keep both hands on the grip.” She wrapped her arms around Rikku to adjust the white knuckled grip Rikku had on the heavy blade. “Like this, otherwise you won’t have as much control. Okay,” She set one hand on Rikku’s hip and used the other to slowly direct Rikku’s arms, “now, slowly swing it like this, keep your wrists firm,” she touched Rikku’s forearm to encourage her to readjust. “Use your hips.” She pressed gently with the other hand against the curve of Rikku’s hip. Pressing close to Rikku’s back she whispered directly in her ear. “Keep your back straight. Yeah, just like that.”

**4.The smell of leather and perfume.  
**

Paine had been off on a mission for two weeks and Rikku missed her. Fiercely. She puttered around the apartment for a while before finally giving in and wandering into Paine’s bedroom. She pulled open the closet and stuck her face in amongst the jackets and pants and weapons, breathing in. The smell of leather polish and oil was comforting but not complete. She pulled her face out and wandered to the dresser. The top drawer held Paine’s underwear and socks. The second was what she was looking for. Paine’s t-shirts.

She sat down on the bed and pressed a dark grey shirt to her face inhaling deeply. Perfect. She flopped backwards and let her arms splay out, leaving the shirt on her face. The fabric was soft. It would probably feel amazing to wear.

Rikku sat up and let the shirt fall into her lap as she stripped her own top and bra off before pulling on the grey one she’d pilfered from Paine’s drawer. It was just as wonderful as she thought it would be. She ran her hands over the cloth, pressing it to her stomach, her shoulders, her breasts with their suddenly very pert nipples. She repeated the motion. Again. Then again. She was getting warm.

She stood and pulled her shorts and underwear off, letting the soft grey fabric tease over her hips. She ran her hands over her breasts again. Leaning back on the pillows she used one hand to pull the neck of the shirt up over her nose while the other slipped down between her legs.

**5.Awkward first kiss (which may or may not be seen by Yuna)**

Rikku still wasn’t sure what prompted her to do it. One minute she’d been on her way into the kitchen for a drink and - oh yeah, the apron. Paine had been wearing an apron while cooking. Rikku’d spun her around to get a proper look, much to Paine’s irritation. And then- well.

Paine was frozen. She wasn’t responding at all to the kiss. Rikku finally pulled back, lips still pursed. She stared at the almost indignant look on Piane’s face and felt her face heat up.

Great peals of laughter broke the pairs stalemate and they both looked over to see Yuna bent nearly double near the entrance to the kitchen.

“What?” Rikku asked.

“That, hahaha, was the worst, hehehehe, attempt at a kiss I have EVER seen, haaaaha. Oh, god, the looks on your faces. Rikku you looked like a freaking fish going in for a bread crumb. Hahahahahaha.” She dissolved into truly helpless laughter and had to remove herself from the kitchen.

Rikku turned back to Paine. “Well, then, we’ll just have to practice.” She dragged Paine back in for another kiss.


End file.
